Zaheer stared at Jacob with a concerned expression.

"Did anyone see you come in?" He asked, furrowing his brows before making sure to close up every single window and door of the small building.

Jacob raised his hands slightly in protest, "Relax, you already know how swift I am, I was careful." He responded in between light chuckles.

"Why have you come here?" Zaheer asked, letting out a sigh of relief and sitting back on the bed.

Jacob moved around the house slowly, subconsciously inspecting for dust and harmful objects, a habit he had picked up during his time at the castle.

"Oh well, I finally left the castle and I decided to visit my old friend—surely I’ve done nothing wrong."

"No no, I didn’t mean it that way—of course I’m happy to see you, I just—I have a lot on my mind right now." Zaheer sighed.

Jacob noticed the small bag on the bed and narrowed his eyes briefly, "Were you going somewhere or coming back from somewhere?" He asked, sitting on a small table beside the bed, the only surface he had deemed worthy of his Royal back side.

"Well I was on my way to pick up Jasmine. Remember her? She’s my sister."

"Oh! Yes I remember!"

"I also just returned from visiting the sect master—"

"That old geezer! How’s he doing these days? Surely his old age must have caught up with h..." Jacob started, the words escaping his mouth easily.

"He wasn’t there..." Zaheer interrupted, a gloomy aura surrounding him, "I fear something may have happened to him."

Jacob remained silent for a moment, looking at the boy seriously.

"Something like what?" He asked?

Zaheer had been born under certain circumstances, after his parents died he was forced to awaken a special gift, known as the Sixth Sense.

Only a handful of cultivators possessed this gift.

As long as he had come into contact with someone, he would be able to tell if the person died or not.

Some people receive the information as visions, some as signs, in Zaheer’s case, he received them as dreams. The cause of death on the other hand was always a haze.

Zaheer’s gift had remained dormant all through his adolescent years, up until the night before, after Savant’s death.

"I don’t know, Jacob—I had a dream last night, I saw him die in my dream, I don’t know what it meant and how true it is, but I dreamt about it and I couldn’t shake it off." Zaheer responded, his hands clasped together.

Jacob’s heartbeat had increased subtly, his mind raced, he wondered if Zaheer knew that he was the one who had killed the sect leader, he decided to ask, "You said he was killed in your dream, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Did you, by any chance, see who killed him?"

Zaheer looked at him, confused expression written all over his face.

"Of course not you fool! Otherwise I’d have gone after them by now!"

Jacob smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck lightly.

"Ah! Okay okay, that was my fault. Why not go over to his house then?"

"He’d kill me if I did that only to discover he was still alive." Zaheer replied, shaking his head.

Jacob sighed, got up and walked towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Why do you fear this man so much?" He inquired.

"It’s not fear, it’s reverence—I owe him my life. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know where I’d be."

Jacob breathed out, and went back to his seat, "Just give him a few days, I’m sure he’d turn up."

"..."

There was no response from Zaheer.

"Anyways I’m currently going on a journey and I just came to tell you. I will be leaving in about an hour."

"I’m glad you came to see me, old friend." Zaheer responded, his mood evidently lighting up.

"Be glad I didn’t taunt you this time either, or smack you around as usual." Jacob sneered.

"YOU!—" Zaheer waved a finger at him angrily, and in less that ten seconds both boys were laughing.

_ _ _

"So where to next?" The brown haired boy asked.

"Hmm, I think Xenia called it the forest of the ten thousand beasts or something like that." Jacob responded nonchalantly.

"WHATT?!"

"What about it?"

"The Ten Thousand Beast Forest is very dangerous, Jacob, most people don’t make it out of there alive." Zaheer warned, his eyes wider than ever.

He had never expected Jacob to drop such news on him.

"Well, it’s a good thing I’m not most people. I’m Jacob Ironfell, the most handsome man on the continent." Jacob announced dramatically, a wide grin tugging at his lips.

Zaheer raised a hand to absolutely slap the Mario coins out of Jacob but he restrained himself after seeing the boy flinch.

"You just have to be careful, in the forest you will encounter creatures and beasts that even you might not be able to defeat. There are tales of a great millennial beast called ’Dong-Zha’ that sleeps in that forest. Any one who wakes Dong-Zha never lives to tell the story."

Jacob placed both hands on Zaheer’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes, "Don’t you worry my dear brother, I’ll be very careful. I just need to get stronger."

Both boys discussed and joked for a while, Jacob kept his usual unserious tone as he reckoned it was just what Zaheer needed in the moment, to take his mind off of what he saw about Savant.

Not long after, it was time for Jacob to leave, the boys bade farewell to each other and Jacob signaled Xenia with a slight knock on the window.

In less than a second, the boy vanished. The same way he came.

Zaheer let out a breath, picked his bag and started towards the door.

He opened the wooden door to meet the sight of a young, wide-eyed, girl no older than twelve years of age, she smiled and hugged him tightly.

"Big brother!" She exclaimed.

"Ja—Jasmine? I was just on my way to pick you up from training."

"I’m a big girl now, big brother, you don’t have to pick me up, I can find my way," she pouted, sat down on the bed and took off her shoes.

Zaheer followed, letting out a sigh of relief.

_ _ _

Jacob and Xenia had returned to the coachman, who had already prepped the carriage and packed up, ready to go.

"Where to next, young master?" He asked, slowly getting in position.

"The Ten Thousand Beast forest."

"WHATT?!" The man exclaimed, flabbergasted at the words of the young man.

Xenia turned to face him, a look of surprise on her face.

"Are you sure you’re ready for such a challenge, young master," she asked.

Jacob put his arms on his waist and held his head high, "If you don’t want to come with me, you are free to stay back, I’ll go alone." He stated clearly.

"No! I’m coming with you, I made a promise to your mother." Xenia quickly retorted.

"Good, what about you, sir?" Jacob looked at the coachman, who was already sweating profusely.

"Umm... Young master, seeing as I’m not as remotely powerful as any of you, I’d like to just take you to the entrance. You wouldn’t need my services any further. The horses and I might die if we go in with you, so we will make camp outside and await your return." The coachman proposed.

After a moment of thought, Jacob agreed, there was no point letting the man die for nothing, Xenia he could manage, not both of them at once.

"Okay, let’s go!"